


Standard Post-Invasion Traffic Warnings Apply

by Eldabe



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-12
Updated: 2012-03-12
Packaged: 2017-11-01 21:00:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/361183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eldabe/pseuds/Eldabe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just because the Earth was back where it belonged and the Daleks were gone didn't mean that everything was back in order.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Standard Post-Invasion Traffic Warnings Apply

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pocky_slash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pocky_slash/gifts).



> Written for [pocky_slash](pocky_slash), who put out a call to fandom for platonic friendship fic in which Ianto and Gwen share a bed. Takes place after "Journey's End."
> 
> [Iceshade](iceshade.livejournal.com) betaed this for me. 
> 
> Originally posted on my livejournal [here](http://eldarwannabe.livejournal.com/110016.html).

Ianto closed his phone with a _snap_. 

"It's too late." he said, looking at it. "The next train leaves Paddington at half-five."

"Oh, Ianto." Gwen said. It was too late to rent a car as well, although shops had all closed after the planet moved back regardless. Jack had mentioned that he could probably borrow one, but Ianto had quietly pointed out that they couldn't deprive the Jones's of their car until someone could find the time to return it. Ianto had offered to drive to London - twice - and Jack had adamantly refused. 

"You just fought off a Dalek. You are not driving down the M4 after after an alien attack. Check the trains," Jack had insisted.

And now the train wouldn't work. The Doctor had all of time and space at his fingertips, and he couldn't have just dropped Jack off a little closer? 

Ianto jiggled the keys in his pocket. "If I drive out there, Jack could drive back..." he said, hesitantly. 

"Under no circumstances. You'll just come home with me, Rhys will warm us something up, and Jack will catch the first train tomorrow." 

They both glanced at the Dalek husk. As soon as the time bubble dropped, they inspected it and Ianto had even cleaned it out, before tackling it with a crowbar. They had both stopped when Jack called, and now it was nearly one in the morning. 

"We'll just leave it for tomorrow," Gwen decided, and dragged Ianto out through the armory to the garage. 

She drove them to her flat and found a note from Rhys about how three of his lorries were in accidents and he would be out the rest of the night sorting it. "Suppose it's my turn now?" he had written, with a smiley face underneath. She checked the fridge while she hit the speed-dial "3" on her mobile. (1 was voicemail and 2 was Ianto. 5 was Jack so he could be in the middle and Gwen could giggle every time she hit the button.)

Sure enough, there was spag bol in a container with heating instructions taped to the top. 

"'lo!"

"Hey, sweetie. Where are you?" 

"The A48. But me and Chris still have to drive to Aberystwyth to handle Ethan's lorry. Poor sod managed to sideswipe one of those alien things."

"Dalek." Gwen said absently, piling the noodles on two plates.

"Yeah, them. Did you find the spag bol?"

"It's lovely, Rhys. When did you have time?"

"I was planning a nice dinner, me. I even opened the wine."

Gwen checked the fridge again, and there was a bottle of white wine chilling. Gwen looked over her shoulder at Ianto sitting at the table, shoulders hunched.

"I think I'm going to start it with Ianto," she said quietly. Raising her voice back to normal, she added, "Celebrate saving the world." They made kissing noises at each other, and Gwen hung up.

She poured two glasses and wondered where Rhys kept the nice cloth serviettes. Ianto would like those. 

-~-~-~-

"I didn't bring anything to sleep in," Ianto pointed out. "I can just call a cab."

Gwen pulled out the oversized shirt that she was _sure_ Rhys had tucked away. 

"Hah!" she said, and threw it Ianto's general direction. He went to fetch it from the floor. 

"Andover?"

"It was a joke. Mates in uni, you know."

Gwen was looking for sweatpants with a drawstring now, shoving all of Rhys's clothes into a messy lump. She would clean it up in the morning, really. Or Rhys would clean it when she forgot. She flung the sweats at Ianto, who stood right behind her to catch them. 

"There," Gwen said, rocking unsteadily back on her heels. "Sorted." 

She dug around for a spare toothbrush in the loo (Rhys tended to pick up extras when he bought floss) and Ianto changed. The brushed their teeth together, Ianto awkward in Rhys's clothes, Gwen in shorts and a sleeveless tee. 

Gwen spat into the sink and thought about Jack, sleeping on a spare bed in a house in London with Martha's family. She thought about Rhys, swapping driving with Chris as they fought their way through the crashes on the M4. She thought about Ianto, tipsy enough that he only put up a token protest when she dragged him to the bedroom to find him something to sleep in. Thought about how he offered to take a cab back to the hub anyway to check in on everything (and then probably sleep there. Alone. With a _Dalek_ in the doorway).

Gwen tugged on his hand and he pulled back, wide-eyed. 

"We won today." Gwen informed him. 

"Yeah." Ianto played with his toothbrush, sending flecks of water flying.

He didn't understand. "We _beat the Daleks_ , Ianto."

He blinked. 

"Come on." Gwen pulled him back to the bedroom, and he stumbled after her, the stretched-out neckline of Rhys's shirt drooping to reveal a whole swath of chest hair and a jagged scar. Gwen could probably name the day he got that scar if she let herself think about it. 

She pushed him down onto the bed, and dropped next to him to crawl to her side. "We're going to sleep." she informed Ianto. 

Ianto seemed nervous again as she kicked back the blankets. "Gwen, I think that-"

She tugged on his shirt and he fell over with a soft OOMPH. Gwen pulled the blanket over both of them and patted his shoulder. 

"We won today, Ianto." she said, still trying to separate today from other days, days Ianto never talks about. "Go to sleep. We're picking Jack up in a few hours."

Hair mussed and shirt sliding down one shoulder, Ianto curled up under the blanket and Gwen did the same on her side. She left him plenty of room, the blanket dipping in between them to create the illusion of separation. Gwen took deep, slow breaths to give Ianto something to listen to, and she felt the bed shift as he finally relaxed into sleep.


End file.
